I flew at him, but I never made it. Strong arms wrapped around my middle from behind, and I was dragged backward. I slapped and clawed at the vise circling me. The owner of the arms grunted, but didn’t slow, carrying me down the stairs.
“I’m not going to forget this, Deacon,” I yelled.
He stood at the top of the stairs, smirking at me. “Have some class, Helen. No need to make a scene just because I won’t let you suck my dick anymore, baby.”
The man holding me put his mouth next to my ear. “Little Tiger, you’re going to tear this house down.” He shushed me like a baby. “Don’t give him a reaction. It’s what he wants.”
The low, smooth timbre of his voice broke through my cloud of rage. I still struggled in his grasp, but I stopped yelling. It was pointless anyway. We were approaching the front door, and Deacon was probably back in his bed, doing unspeakable things to himself at the thought of screwing me over.
I was carried down the porch steps, which garnered most assholery from the loungers stationed there. I wasn’t put down. He kept going, taking me around the side of the frat house. There, he finally set me on my feet.
Whipping around, I found Zadie first. She had my skateboard tucked under her arm, her cheeks tomato red. She moved to my side, and I took her hand, giving it a squeeze.
“Are you okay?” Deep velvet. Soft and rich. The owner of the most soothing, lovely voice was watching me. His voice matched his looks, including his twinkling blue eyes. Although, he wasn’t smiling like he had been a year ago when he’d accompanied Deacon and Daniel to Savage Wheelz.
I rubbed my side. “I think I have a broken rib.”
His brow dropped. “Shit. Did I hurt you?”
My eyes rolled. “As if you care.”
His jaw hardened, carefully enunciating each word. “Did I hurt you?”
I leveled him with an unwavering gaze. “No, you did not. I don’t love being dragged out of buildings by strangers, but I’m fine. It takes a lot more than some dude’s spindly arms to hurt me.”
“Stranger? Hmmm.” His arms—which were taut with muscles, golden, and nowhere near spindly—folded across his chest. He looked me over, then he checked out Zadie. “You’re both okay, Zadie?”
Zadie nodded. “Yeah, Theo.”
I glared at him.
“Your friend is the hugest asshole I’ve ever met. I’m not anywhere near done with him. And just so you know, he deserves whatever I dish out.”
“What’d Deacon do?” Blue Eyes asked.
“None of your business, Theodore.”
His plush mouth broke into a wide, amused grin. “You do remember me.”
“I remember the company you keep.”
“It’s just Theo, by the way.”
I shrugged. “Well, this reunion has been real, but I have to go to work in, oh…” I tapped my imaginary watch on my wrist, “eighteen hours, so I have to dash. See you around, Theodore.”
Spinning on my toes, I started walking back toward the dorms, pulling Zadie along with me. I didn’t miss Theo’s annoying, lovely laugh, unfortunately.
“How do you know that guy?” I asked.
“Theo? Oh, his girlfriend, Abby, was one of my roommates last year. I…um, saw him a lot. He was always nice to me, but she—”
“Was a bitch.” I squeezed Zadie’s wrist. “It figures he’d have a girlfriend like that.”
When we were well away from the frat house, I dropped down on the grass, sprawling flat on my back, and groaned at the blue, blue sky. Zadie dropped down beside me, sitting near my shoulder.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“No. I’m sorry I took you there, though. I shouldn’t have done that.”